Marking the interim government’s 100th day in office, the International Crisis Group (ICG) published a report titled “A new era in Bangladesh? The first hundred days of reform’. The think tank highlighted corruption, irregularities, politicisation of administration and judiciary, and destruction of the electoral system by the fallen Awami League regime. This is the second one of the report’s two parts.
Interim government chief adviser Dr Muhammad Yunus addresses the nation on 25 August 2024.
A student-led mass uprising ousted the Awami League government on 5 August and its prime minister Sheikh Hasina fled to India. Within days, the interim government, led by Nobel laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus, took the charge.
Since then, the interim government undertook reform measures in various sectors, including corruption prevention, political, administrative, electoral spheres.
The International Crisis Group (ICG), a Brussels-based think tank focused on preventing wars and shaping policies for a more peaceful world, noted that it will not be an easy task for the interim government to implement the reform plans. Against the backdrop, it presented a set of recommendations regarding the situation in Bangladesh.
Given the constraints on Dr Yunus and his allies – including their lack of governing experience, the pent-up grievances in Bangladeshi society and the country’s fractious politics – it will most likely be impossible for them to deliver entirely on their ambitious agenda.
An ambitious reform agenda
A key challenge for the interim government will be to manage sky-high public expectations. Given the constraints on Dr Yunus and his allies – including their lack of governing experience, the pent-up grievances in Bangladeshi society and the country’s fractious politics – it will most likely be impossible for them to deliver entirely on their ambitious agenda.
Nevertheless, the country has a rare opportunity for political, economic and social renewal. The atrocities of July and August have created a “never again” moment: a desire to put in place guardrails sturdy enough to prevent another autocrat from emerging.
To achieve this goal, the government will need to amend laws and the constitution; reform the election commission and electoral system; and make changes within the police and bureaucracy, given the centrality of these institutions to holding free and fair elections. As an interim government figure put it, “If we don’t repair our institutions, there won’t be free and fair elections or a smooth transition, so what will be the point of all this?”
On 11 September, Dr Yunus formed six commissions to spearhead these reforms. Headed by respected civil society leaders and former bureaucrats, each of these bodies will handle a key area: the judiciary, the electoral system, state administration, the police, corruption and the constitution. The commissions began work on 1 October and will report back by the end of the year; the interim government will then hold talks with political parties and undertake public consultations to complete plans for reforms in these six areas.
It has since announced four additional reform commissions, focused on health, media, labour rights and women’s affairs. The commissions have nonetheless been criticised for their lack of inclusivity, particularly with regard to women and minorities.
Overhauling governance and institutions
Perhaps the most difficult of all reforms will be to overhaul Bangladesh’s institutions. During her fifteen years in power, Sheikh Hasina worked assiduously to undermine their independence so that they would do her bidding. She typically did so by stacking them with supporters, showering them with largesse or cowing their senior officials.
Already, the interim government has replaced several senior and mid-level members of key institutions, particularly in the judiciary, bureaucracy and police. Many officials close to the AL remain in place, however. A full clean-out is impractical, and the government wants to give all those who remain a chance to get behind the reform agenda.
Judiciary
The judicial system of Bangladesh has never been entirely safe from political interference, but under Hasina the meddling assumed alarming proportions as her administration used the courts to cudgel her political opponents.
In 2017, the chief justice himself was pressured to resign after the Supreme Court he headed ruled that parliament could not sack judges; facing serious threats to his safety, he later fled the country and was convicted in absentia of seemingly bogus corruption charges. By going after the country’s top judge, Hasina sent a clear signal that any member of the judiciary who defied her would face dire consequences.
Over her last decade in power, the legal system got clogged with hundreds of thousands – by some estimates, millions – of cases filed against regime opponents, including Dr Yunus himself. The charges were often based on flimsy or even non-existent evidence, but judges were loath to dismiss cases for fear of retribution.
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